By Jay Mwamba

First Division

LANSDOWNE WINS RAPAGALIA CUPU.S. amateur champions Lansdowne Bhoys blanked New York Greek Americans 3-0 in an all-CSL final at the Verrazano Sports Complex to scoop the Walter Rapaglia Cup and collect their seventh silverware in 10 months.

It was the CSL’s eighth victory in 10 years of the elite one-day tournament.

Paco Navarro [two] and Craig Purcell scored to avenge a 1-0 loss to NYGA in the CSL playoffs last June. That defeat ended Lansdowne’s pursuit of a fourth straight league title. The Greeks went on to clinch a ninth league crown.Navarro headed in a Lukas Zarges cross [10th] for the opener against NYGA, who fielded a second string side. He added a second 10 minutes later before Purcell’s half volley from Danny Ocana’s corner iced it.

“By lifting the prestigious Rapaglia cup, the Bhoys now automatically advance to the final of the Werner Fricker Cup New York region final,” said Bhoys president William McGrory.

Losing finalists in 2014, Lansdowne had topped Group 2 whose other members were AllFUT champions Halcones FC and the CSL’s Central Park Rangers Whites. The latter were in the six-team tournament as the Flamhaft State Cup holders.

“We showed up with a depleted reserve team,” Rangers’ Eli Vovsha put the result in perspective.

In game two, CPR were thrashed 5-0. Anthony Grant [two], Oakley [two] and Tigana sent the Bhoys into the final against the Greeks.

“Andrew Sousa and Navarro were exceptional in all three games, they particularly did well [against] CPR, pulling the strings in the final third,” observed McGrory.

Also playing in Group 1, from which the Greeks emerged, were EDSL titlists Kelmendi and LISFL champions Glen Cove.

The Sal Rapaglia Cup adds to the Bhoys’ unprecedented trophy haul in the U.S. amateur soccer and validates them as the best amateur club in the country.

Since last fall, the Yonkers Irish have lifted both U.S. Amateur Cup and Werner Fricker Open Cup Region 1 titles; the USASA Amateur Cup, the USASA Fricker Open Cup, the Manning State Cup and a sixth consecutive CSL division title.

LAMAR HUNTThe Bhoys begin their quest for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup this Sunday with a first round qualifier against New Jersey’s Jackson Lions FC at 7:30 p.m. at the Jackson Justice Complex in Jackson, N.J.

NYAC STREAKOn a quiet day in the CSL top flight, New York Athletic Club came away from promotion side Manhattan Kickers’ East River Park field with a 2-0 decision.

Jason Lampkin and Peter Ceesay struck to lift NYAC atop the log. Alan Reiter and Laurin Vogel had the assists.

Dennis Kachintsev had a goal and an assist in the Kicker reserves’ 2-2 tie. He finished off a Jared Hirschowitz ball and then flicked on Hirschowitz’ throw-in that Rodolfo Domingos netted.

The Rocks’ top scorer last season, Mills-Odoi latched onto Whyte’s first half clearance to put the home side ahead. In the second half, Sean Reilly won a penalty that Whyte converted.

Bibi Dia got a late goal back for Zum.

"A very valuable three points," said coach Kevin Grogan. "We didn’t necessarily play to our potential on the ball but we did work hard off the ball and we hunted in packs and defended the space very well.”

In the curtain raiser, Conner Lachenbruch, Andrew Scott and Joey Aronovsky tallied for the Shamrocks reserves in a 3-0 shutout.

HEADMASTER
Cedar Stars Academy ace Paulie Nittoli scored headers of a pair of inch-perfect crosses from Sammy Gehman in a 2-2 road tie with Pancyprian Freedoms at St. John’s University.

CELTIC ROMPIn the second tier, Jamie Tyrell bagged four goals in Manhattan Celtic’s 7-2 romp over rookie side KidSuper Samba AC at the Baker Athletics Complex.

Gastón Becherano, Bobby DeStefano and Raul Zuniga also scored as Celtic moved joint top of the North.

Alhoussain Bah had both Samba goals, off assists by Dimitar Belchev and Youssouf Bamba.

Cesar Valcarcel netted in the Celtic reserves’ 1-0 decision.

SPORTING WOESNewcomers Malatyaspor USA [MUSA] picked up three easy points at the expense of a severely short-handed Sporting Astoria to join the Celtic first team atop the North.

With no recourse but to play on Staten Island – almost 40 miles south from what’s been their Evander Childs HS home field in the Bronx—Sporting could only muster seven players for the senior fixture. And after losing a man to injury while down 3-0, the match, in accordance with football rules, could not continue.

Sporting manager Ed Romero was apologetic.

“We were looking forward to this match and it was an embarrassment,” he said. “We want to apologize to Malatyaspor USA for what occurred. Unfortunately there was nothing we could have done.”

His reserves tied 3-3 in a seesaw affair that began with Cris Tapia setting up Ken Fuller for the match opener. MUSA hit back twice before the amazing Damone Manning took over to earn MVP honors.

Between the posts for the first 70 minutes, he discarded his goalkeeper gloves to play inside and deliver a telling cross that resulted in an own goal. Then when Jose Alcala was fouled in the box, Manning converted the ensuing PK to put Sporting 3-2 up.

Alas, MUSA leveled on the last play of the game from a corner.

SIBLING RIVALRYAlso victorious in the North was Brishna who edged old buddies NYPD FC 3-2 at Flushing Meadow Field.

Idris Mashriqi [two] and Mohammad B. Mashriqi struck for Brishna. Douglas Nervaez and Ugur Goktekin were the NYPD marksmen against the team they once merged with two seasons ago.

The Cops had the upper hand in the reserve fixture, with Carlos Bonilla and Rene Lopez on the mark in a 2-1 result. Firoz Mehirdel replied for Brishna ‘B.’

The game got off to an explosive with three goals in the first 16 minutes, Tom Hogue [9th] and Jeremy Witherspoon [16th] connecting for the Jersey club either side of Rayco Martin’s short-lived equalizer [12th].

Enter Chaplin with a quick-fire brace [40th, 43rd] that turned into a hat trick [79th] following Iberia’s second goal [64th] by Ivan Hernandez.

“As [manager] David [Lago] mentioned last week, we knew Hoboken would be a tough test,” noted Iberia coach Chiki Vazquez. “We collapsed defensively for about 10-15 minutes in the first half and Hoboken was able to capitalize with three goals. The second half was much better as a team. Hats off to Hoboken for a great game.”

BAD BOUNCEA 3-2 loss to Beyond FC at Laurel Hill Park across the Hudson left promotion side Williamsburg International still seeking their first win in the second tier.

John Kaddo got both goals, with Chris Blivin and Mark Gallagher the providers.

“The team felt unlucky to have missed a penalty, hit the post, and had a goal called off for offside. But - that's the way the ball rolls sometimes,” rued Charles von Rosenberg.

There were seven goals in the reserve tussle with Williamsburg’s seconds running off 5-2 winners despite suiting up 11 players only.

Richard Clements and Daniel Rivas both had a brace, with the latter setting up Clements’ second goal. Richard Butterworth also had a goal and an assist, with Lucasz Mosakowski, Koji Tsurumi and Augustus Esgro making the assist list as well.

UNLUCKY UKRAINIANS
Jean “Menesky” Magloire had the lone goal in New York Ukrainians’ 3-1 capitulation to Polonia Gwardia at McCarren Park.

“Unlucky for the most part,” summed up Boris Shapoval.

The reserve game was goalless.

In other Second Division results, Stal Mielec made its 2016-2017 bow with a 7-1 blowout of Panatha USA, as did FC Spring Valley who blanked Bronx Supreme 4-0. The Stal and Spring Valley reserves prevailed 3-1 and 6-5, respectively.

Metro One

HOT DENNEHY’SMr. Dennehy’s dispatched NYC Metro Stars 3-1 on Randalls Island to top Metro Div. One in Week Two on goal difference.

Jonathan Williamson, Josh Wigod and Jonathan Imundo were on target.

For the second time in as many games, midfielder Landry Sanon, a native of Burkina Faso, was the Metro Star scorer.

MAGICAL ERGINYFC Iliria’s Ergi Janku bagged all the goals in a 4-1 drubbing of Shamrock 1960 on Randalls Island. Dan Meola replied for the Rocks.

Ergi’s exploits, which kept Iliria level on points with Dennehy’s, earned him a perfect 10 rating.

“The magician was simply unplayable scoring a mesmerizing four goals with each one of them assisted by his unique brand of genius,” said an Iliria official.

RESETNormal service was restored on the BW Gottschee front after the club’s surprise opening day loss to rookie side FC Ulqini. The “Blue and Whites” shutout Deportivo Sociedade 3-0 on Randalls Island.

Second half assists by Brandon Silva yielded goals for John Falidas and Stamatis Dionysios – the latter from a corner. Tommy Mastoras’ tap-in from a Glenn Whelan pass sealed it [80th].

“Gottschee found themselves in an unfamiliar position losing the first match of their Metro I campaign and it was vital they put things right against Deportivo,” said BW coach John Ryding.

FC Ulqini, meanwhile, continued with their fine early form, holding off Gotham Argo 3-1 in the late game at Pier 40. Federico Testi, off Yosef Shamovsky, was the Gotham scorer.

REBOUNDRidgewood Romac is another team that rebounded from a first day defeat in style. They trounced Lansdowne Bhoys Metro One side 6-2 on Staten Island.

Ayhan Bekdemir [three], Dani Ceabuca [two] and Edwin Pino tallied, while Brian Thornton and Gearoid Kennedy had Lansdowne as close as 3-2 until the 70th minute. .

“We had a legitimate penalty shout that was denied. While pushing for an equalizer with 20 minutes to go, we conceded again and twice more,” noted Lansdowne president McGrory.

Metro Two

WELCOME BACKGrenadier Zenith returned to the CSL with a bang after a two-year absence, outgunning Deportivo Sociedade 8-4 at McCarren Park.

Edyson Salnave’s fourth goal in two games, thanks to Gerbier again [80th], seemed to be the Flushing winner. But with five minutes to spare, Zaiter popped up once more again to equalize with five minutes to spare.

GRIDLOCKIn Metro Two South, a four-way tie on four-points marks the early season action after Week Two.

Richmond County and NY Galicia, two of the pace-setters, battled to a 2-all draw at Corporal Thompson Park.

Albert Asamoah gave Richmond a half time lead that was erased on resumption by Galicia’s Julian Escobar and Hugo Urgiles. Two minutes from time, Richmond’s Martin Fijalkiewicz, who’d assisted on Asamoah’s goal, won a penalty that Mark Shnadsteyn converted for the equalizer.

Barnstonworth Rovers and NYC Afghanistan, the other co-leaders on four points, tied 1-1 at Bush Terminal Piers Park.

Rovers’ Dave Leboff leveled late.

BROOKLYN MAULINGFirst start was a charm for Mola SC-America. They knocked off AO Brooklyn 6-3 at Abraham Lincoln HS.

BEYOND THRILLERElsewhere in Metro Two, Beyond FC and New York United produced a thriller on Randalls Island.

Beyond were two down at the interval when Ali Reza, Samuel Gozan and Abe Hammami, in that order, turned it around to lead 3-2.

“Then in the last 10 minutes a poor pass by me allowed them to find some space on the right,” confessed Reza.

United equalized to nick a point.

Sons of Queens and Gateway FC both walked away victories at Randall’s Island Field 74. Upfirst was SOQ who easily beat Partizani 6-2. In the last match of the day, Gateway FC dispatched Brooklyn Bound SC with a 3-1 final score.

MCGEENEY BRACEJohnny McGeeney followed up his hat trick in the Shamrock Over-30s’ season opener with a brace in a 3-0 late shutout of Megas Alexandros on Randalls Island.

He connected early [15th] to Dave Harvey’s corner. Then after Harvey had served another corner for Dominick McCarten to nod home, McGeeney struck again off Sean Riley’s assist.

“An extremely hard fought game against a very well organized Megas team,” said McCarry, whose lads share the Over-30 East leadership with Manhattan Kickers Premier.

PRIME TIMEAaron Vennard and Khouri Mullings combined [70th] to snatch a 1-0 win for Kickers Premier over CPR Old Boys on Randalls Island.

GUNNERS SILENCEDAlso on Randalls Island, third place CPR Orange silenced Brooklyn Gunners 4-2 for their first win.

Nate Appel scored first, Chris Serotta set up goals for Najib Majaj and Joji Tokida, while Dragan Blagojevic hit the last one.

STALEMATEOver-30 West joint leaders Pancyprian Freedoms played to a goalless tie with Manhattan Celtic Bhoys at Pier 40.

“The win was there for either team as both sides had several quality chances. That said the draw was a fair result,” said the Bhoys’ Larry Rice. “Hats off to both goalkeepers for several critical saves.”

Pancyprian were joined on four points by Hoboken FC 1912, big winners over CPR Grays at Sinatra Park.

“They went up 2-0, and then 3-1, and it was 3-3 at half time. We should have gone 4-3 up 10 minutes into the second half with [literally] an open goal, but sadly, it was not to be. They scored two late on to win 5-3.”

Tal Sheynfeld [two] and Fozzie scored for Celtic. Hemir Niebles and Christian Turizo were the other Greek marksmen.

O38 Division

HIGH SCORING COZMOZ
One of the highest scoring teams in the CSL, Over-38 champs Cozmoz FC demolished SC Eintracht 7-0 on Randalls Island.

‘EVAN SENT’In search of a pure finisher for the past season, Barnstonworth Rovers’ prayers were finally answered in the form of Evan Woodhouse. The forward notched a hat trick on his debut, a 7-1 trouncing of Banatul at Bush Terminal Piers.

Brent Heimlich [two], Aldo Morales and Andrew Miller accounted for the other goals.

“We’ve been looking for a natural goal scorer for nearly a year since one of our players moved away,” said manager Dave Sheeran. “Last Sunday, Evan played his first game for us and scored a hat trick. A good confidence booster for the season.”

CLINICAL KICKERSFiring on all cylinders, Kickers Legends netted five goals for the second consecutive week to see off SC Gjoa at Bushwick Inlet. It finished 5-3.

“John Balson continued his great start with his new club by adding two more to his tally after scoring on his debut last week,” said Eddie Yee Woo Guo.

Center back Jesse Vozick and Gilad Bloom [two], another frequent scorer, also connected.